Iraq

Are we headed back to the days of the Cold War? Just days after the White House announced 450 additional U.S. troops would be sent to Iraq, the Pentagon said it wants to deploy heavy weaponry and as many as 5,000 troops in Eastern Europe.

Dozens of Minnesota National Guard members returned home to their families on Saturday. About 80 members of the 34th Combat Aviation Brigade, or the Red Bulls, were greeted by hundreds of friends and family.

An Iraqi man needs one thing to make Minnesota finally feel like home — his family. “Phillip,” which is what soldiers call him to protect his identity, served as an interpreter for Minnesota soldiers during the Iraq War.

Minnesota honored its veterans with a special state program Tuesday in Inver Grove Heights. State military leaders honored Minnesota’s 370,000 veterans, including 26,000 who were deployed for extended periods of time after 9/11.

An Iraqi man who helped save soldiers’ lives overseas is trying to bring his family to America. American soldiers helped bring Philip here last December, after he served as an interpreter for them during the war.

When young men from Minneapolis began traveling to Somalia seven years ago to join a terror group in the midst of a civil war, investigators trying to stop the recruiting went straight to the city’s large Somali community to build trust and gain understanding.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Franken said Thursday that he’s happy to have the outlines of a plan to combat the threat of Islamic State militants but that he wonders what effect it will have on recruitment for the terror group, including in Minnesota communities.

Click the link above to VOTE on Dave Lee’s Morning Show Poll. Or call the Morning Show Voicemail at 612-375
If you would like to comment on the President’s address, call our Morning Show Voicemail. 612-375-7271.

Members of a Minneapolis Air Force Reserve Unit are on their way to support troops serving in the Middle East. More than 100 airmen with the 934th Air Lift wing said goodbye to their families Tuesday morning and boarded four C-130s for the two-day trip to southwest Asia.

A U.S. Army Sergeant who was shot in the head, then shot again three more times, is sharing his message of forgiveness and recovery at the fair. After serving two tours in Iraq, Sergeant Patrick Zeigler was shot during the 2009 attack on Fort Hood.

Family and friends of a Minnesota man are hoping reports that he died fighting with ISIS in Somalia are wrong. On Thursday, the State Department said they could not confirm news and social media reports that a second Minnesotan — Abdiramaan Muhumud — also died fighting for ISIS.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, better known as ISIS, has already taken over several key cities. This is a militant group that’s so extreme that traditional Al Qaeda has disavowed it. The ISIS jihadists move quickly and brutally.

An international sporting competition is coming to London this fall featuring athletes who’ve overcome the biggest odds. All of the athletes bear the battle scars of war, they are the sick or injured soldiers from 14 nations.

Fighting continues in Iraq with government forces continuing to try and hold off the advances of Sunni militants. The appearance this weekend of the militant spiritual leader Abu Bakr al – Baghdadi at a mosque in Mosul, despite a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head, is seen as a further sign of how emboldened the rebels have become. Questions are also growing over whether the U.S. should back an effort to replace the current president of Iraq, Nouri Al-Maliki.

In Iraq, Sunni militants continue pushing towards Baghdad. The militants have released video reportedly showing the moments before fighters executed Shiites serving in the Iraqi Army. President Obama is sending 275 troops to Iraq to protect U.S. personnel and the American Embassy, but some lawmakers want the president to quickly provide a plan to address the threat.

It’s a day many Minnesota families won’t soon forget. More than 200 National Guard members are being deployed to Iraq. But before they go, those heroes and their families were treated to a steak lunch.